


Emperor

by SeraGabriel



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Emperor!Jared, M/M, Peasant!Jensen, WIP, bad first meeting, mistaken for hooker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-06-30
Updated: 2012-08-31
Packaged: 2017-11-08 20:41:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/447338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeraGabriel/pseuds/SeraGabriel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based loosely upon the Emperor's New Groove. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The Emperor Jared has to choose a wife, but before he does his friend Chad buys him a man for the night. Too bad Jensen was just at the wrong place, at the wrong time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Prologue

It wasn't supposed to be like this.

He wasn't supposed to be sitting here in the dark, alone, chained to a dank and damp cell wall. A prisoner in his own home… And yet here he was, listening to the annoying drips of water fall relentlessly onto the floor. He sighed and banged his head against the concrete. At least it wasn't actually dripping onto him.

Drip.

Drip…

…Drip.

He spoke too soon.

How did he get to this place in his life? What did he do to deserve this? Sure he may not have been the most moral person in the world, but still. He had lied before, sure, who hadn't? But he had never stolen anything before. Never had a reason to. Usually got what he wanted anyway. He had lusted, but he was a young healthy man, it was perfectly normal.

He never killed anybody. That had to count for something right? He wasn't a saint but he wasn't a bad person either.

But for whatever reason, his so called past sins had caught up to him, and now karma was in process.

He frowned at the soreness in his wrists, held in the awkward angle of being up in the air. He lifted his arms trying to relieve some pressure, but only succeeded in making the metal chains rattle.

Once upon a time he had the world at his fingertips, well, at the very least his kingdom. He supposed he was a benevolent enough ruler. He himself had never received any complaints. Not until him at least.

A snap of the fingers, that was all it usually took, and someone would scurry to do his bidding.

Food? Yes, your majesty.

Entertainment? At once your highness.

Love? Family? Happiness? We're sorry, Sire. We can't do that.

He scoffed out loud at that. Okay, maybe that last one was made up. A memory of green eyes filled his vision, and he tried to quell the heartache that accompanied it. Maybe he did make up that last part, still didn't mean he didn't want it.

But apparently, as someone told him not that long ago, he always got what he wanted. And now he was getting what he deserved.

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I probably should warn y'all that I started this and got about 4 chapters in and then just stopped....FAIR WARNING! I do wish to continue it, but it might take awhile...a long while 

Jared was asleep and perfectly content to remain asleep for the rest of the day in his comfy, oversized, patented llama wool stuffed bed. He loved to sleep in on Sunday mornings, and planned to do just that. But apparently he and his royal advisor's opinions were on a largely different scale.

'Emperor Jared! Wake up this instance!' Fredric's voice rang out from behind the door he was banging on.

Jared refused to acknowledge the man though, and opted to instead burrow deeper into the multiple blankets and pillows surrounding him, making him look like a caterpillar preparing to make a cocoon.

BANG BANG BANG!

'Jared!'

He smiled happily into his favorite pillow. Thank God he had hidden that key to his room from Fredric and made sure he had the only copy. Otherwise he'd have to actually do stuff today, like, oh say, ruling an empire. The banging on the door continued, as did the yelling, but he was used to it, and it didn't bother him anymore. Oh yeah, things were definitely going his way.

Abruptly the noise stopped and he let out a relieved sigh. Finally.

He loved his life. Without even opening his eyes he knew what he would see of his room. A large spacious area, full of anything he could ever need. A canopied bed, a lush carpet, a huge mirror to see himself in. There was a huge window that was currently covered with drapes, so big that it was more than double his height, and he was a big man. The darkness was inviting him to sleep once again, so he accepted its call and his breaths started to deepen.

Click. He peeked open one eye and saw his door knob turn. No, no, no! How did he-?

Fredric's smiling face popped in. Fredric…was smiling? Never a good sign. At. All. He gulped and sat up in bed. Fredric's yellow eyes met his hazel ones.

'Your majesty?'

'Yes Fredric?'It was best to just ignore exactly how Fredric gained access to the only key to his room and do what he wanted.

He threw a piece of paper onto his bed and stepped into his room. 'Get up.'

Jared hesitantly picked up the paper, afraid of what he might find.

Announcement

The Emperor Jared seeks a wife.

Send your daughters, sisters, nieces, and cousins.

The kingdom needs an empress.

She must possess the following qualities: Beauty (above all else), Intelligence, Humility, and Submissiveness.

Report to the capital in three weeks time.

Jared stared as the piece of paper fell out of his hands and fluttered to the floor. A wife? Numbly he turned towards his most trusted advisor.

'Fredric?'

'Those were sent out three weeks ago to every family in the kingdom.'

Jared gulped. A wife? But…but…he didn't want to get married! He was only nineteen for gosh sakes! He needed to live a little more. Sow some wild oats! Get drunk in public! Go skinny dipping! All the normal teenage stuff that he had never been allowed to do before because of his royal status.

'Fredric, come on man. Can't we talk about this?' He made his face look devastated, and he was, but it made his patented kicked puppy face complete. He saw Fredric's face shift slightly and he started to make his eyes water. That's right, he thought as he saw Fredric seem to crumble, feel sorry for me.

'No.'

'What?'

Fredric smirked. 'Your highness, you have been trying to use that face on me since you were seven. It didn't work then and it certainly won't work now.'

Jared grumbled and dramatically threw himself underneath his covers.

'It's not fair.'

'Life is not meant to be fair your majesty.'

'It should be.' His voice muffled from beneath his comforter.

'Now,' Fredric clapped his hands and servants appeared from the doorway all carrying a different outfit, 'We must decide what you are going to wear for this momentous occasion.'

'Why not black? Should match my mood.'

Fredric tsked as he took a tasteful blue outfit form one of the servants and laid it on Jared's bed. 'You're not going to a funeral Jared. You are simply choosing a wife. It is not that difficult.'

'Not difficult?' Jared all but shrieked. 'How is it not difficult! I'm supposed to be choosing a wife Fredric! Not some random girl to have a fling with. Someone I'm supposed to be spending the rest of my life with! It's kind of a big decision!' His voice was so loud at the end of his little rant that some of the servants actually flinched. Fredric dismissed them with a snap of his fingers.

'You have nothing to worry about.' He said calmly while choosing which jewels Jared would wear for the ceremony. He picked up a green one and then shook his head, putting it back down.

'Why not that piece? I love the color green.'

'Yes, well, I absolutely loathe that color. So blue it is.'

Jared just shrugged his shoulders. 'Why now Fredric? Why didn't you even tell me?'

'The council had been pushing you to choose a wife for about three years now-'

'Sixteen, Fredric, sixteen. What teenage boy is supposed to know who they're gonna marry?'

'…As I was saying. They have been pushing to get you married a lot harder lately. They are worried that you are too comfortable with your bachelor lifestyle and they want the assurance of an heir.'

Jared smirked. 'I probably already have an illegitimate heir somewhere already…'

'Yes, the whole kingdom knows of your lust filled and whorish behavior.'

'Hey!'

'And also you weren't going to do anything about it. So I took matters into my own hands.'

Jared sighed and got up, putting his outfit on as quickly as possible. 'Still could have told me about me having to choose my potential bride to be. Would've been nice to have just a little warning.'

Fredric pretended to look shocked. 'And give you a chance to escape? Not likely.'

'You have no faith in me.' Jared pouted.

'I have plenty of faith in you. I just don't trust you.'

Jared snorted. 'Thanks a lot.'

Fredric nodded and turned around, intending to leave. He stopped at the doorway and touched the handle lightly. 'Your Majesty?'

'Yeah?' He fussed around with his complicated robe thingy that was required for all special events but stopped when he heard the seriousness in his mentor's voice.

'You don't need to worry so much. Just choose a girl, any girl. And it'll be fine. She's there to produce heirs and be a symbolic figurehead. Nothing else. You'll always have me there to help you run the kingdom remember?'

He smiled softly at the man who basically raised him after his parent's death. 'Thank you Fredric.'

'Your welcome, Majesty.'

He exited the room, leaving it full of silence. Jared sighed and rubbed his eyes.

A wife. He was going to be choosing a wife today. Could things get any weirder?

He put on his pants and wrapped his robe around himself, walking towards his mirror as he did so. He smirked and then smiled at his reflection, going through about twenty different poses.

That's right, he was the man. Well, emperor actually. But dang, some girl was going to get lucky today. He knew he looked good, had been with more women than he could count, and knew they had all been satisfied.

Running his hands through his hair he realized his floppy chestnut brown hair wasn't…the usual style one of his stature would usually have. But he liked it, despite Fredric constantly reminding him that he looked like a peasant. He had hazel eyes, color shifting constantly from blue to green to brown that everyone said looked just like his mothers. He puffed out his chest and dramatically looked off into the distance.

'Okay then. I'm just gonna go away now…' Came a voice from the doorway.

Jared turned around to see a young man around his age with spiky blond hair leaning against the door post. 'Chad!'

His friend smirked in his direction. 'Oh no. Please continue, Oh great king.'

'Shut up, I'm just practicing my poses.' He messed with his hair a little bit, wondering if he should try something special for today.

'What? To look like a jerk?'

'Oh please Chad. We both know that you are the jerk in this relationship.'

His blond friend nodded his head in agreement. 'True.'

In the end Jared decided to leave his hair as is. If his future wife didn't like then that was just too bad.

'What are you doing here Chad?'

'Can't an old friend just stop by?'

Chad was an old friend. As in friends, apparently, since they were babies. Chad's father was on the council and would hang around the palace. And since he was the only who was Jared's age around there, they had just clicked.

'No. Not you.'

'Fine, I decided to see how you reacting to being a future family man.'

Jared's mouth dropped open and he pointed an accusing finger at his friend. 'You-! You knew!'

Chad smirked and held up a piece of paper. 'Got one myself. But I gotta say man; you are really not my type.'

'Jerk! Why didn't you say anything?'

'And ruin the fun? Heck no.'

Jared sighed, as Chad plopped down onto his bed. 'Remind me why you're my friend again?'

'Cause I hold all of your deepest darkest secrets.'

Jared nodded. 'Remind me to never get drunk with you again. Ever.'

'But speaking of secrets…'

'What?' Jared groaned.

'How does it feel knowing you're going to be shackled to a woman for the rest of your life?'

'Chad. I've slept with women before, and I have spent time with them before. I think I can handle it.'

'Yeah, Yeah. I know. You've conquered your fear of the pussy. But now you'll never get to experience your love of the dick.'

'You're a dick.' Jared threw a pillow at him and knocked him off of the bed and onto the floor. Nonplussed Chad stood up and dusted himself off.

'Seriously dude. I've known you were gay since you let it spill when you were fourteen. And I know you've never slept with a guy but not for lack of wanting. . .'

'I don't think people would react too well to having a gay emperor.'

'So, I think before you tie the knot to some lucky lady that you need to get man laid.'

'…what?'

Chad nodded sagely. 'Yes, the Chad believes that you need to go out later tonight and find yourself a man.'

'And I think you need to stop referring to yourself in third person.'

'I only do it cause I'm awesome like that.'

'You do it because you're stupid like that.'

'Dude….' Chad stretched the word out like it was three syllables instead of one.

'What! Chad I seriously need to get ready. Apparently I have to choose my future wife in about five hours. I would like to look my best.'

Chad scoffed. 'Five hours to get ready? My God you really are gay.'

Jared's resort was to throw another pillow at him.

'I'm serious Jay, you need to go get laid.'

'You have an unnatural obsession with my sex life.'

Chad totally ignored that remark. 'Are you afraid to?'

Jared stopped what he was doing over at his mirror and was about to declare himself completely not afraid of having sex with a man, but then stopped. Was he afraid? Was that even possible?

He remembered when he first realized he liked men. He was thirteen going on fourteen and had seen the palace guard training in the courtyard. On the other side of the veranda were all of the maids doing the laundry for the day. The girls had eventually gotten into a water fight and started to take off their clothes and he had eagerly leaned forward in his hiding place to see the great mystery of what lied underneath girls clothes and. . . .it was nothing special.

He found his gaze being drawn towards the men when they took their shirts off instead, his gaze riveted to the sweat dripping off of those hard muscles.

Yeah, it was pretty much confirmed for him right then. But to say he was afraid of intimacy with a man was absurd. He liked them, why should he be afraid then?

'I could get you somebody if you're scared.'

Chad's voice brought him out of his musings. 'What?'

'Y'know. I buy you a guy for a few hours, you two make the big happy. And then everyone's good.'

'You-you can't do that! You're talking about a prostitute!' Jared spluttered.

'Naw, it's cool, everyone does it. I got it.' Chad was already walking out the door.

'No Chad! Wait! Don't you dare!'

Chad's voice carried from down the hallway. 'Don't worry! I'll get you the prettiest man in the kingdom!'

Great. This was just great.

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'Jensen, watch out for where you're going!'

Jensen stumbled as someone knocked into him from behind, not even offering an apology. He grimaced as he rubbed his sore shoulder. Nice crowd.

'I heard you Mac.' He told his little sister.

'Well, you obviously didn't. Otherwise you wouldn't be getting pushed around by everybody.'

'Yeah, yeah.'

Jensen shielded his eyes and looked up at the palace once again, the spectacle that caused him to get distracted in the first place. He had been to the capital before, sure, but it seemed like it would never get old. The Emperor's home was massive. It rose far above every other building in the city, the light hitting it just right making the gold on it gleam like it was the sun itself.

'What do you suppose a man does with all that space?' Mackenzie asked as she stopped next to her big brother.

'Well, he's got to have a place to store all of his jewels doesn't he? And servants. And army. And a zoo I'm sure of it.'

Mackenzie rolled her eyes. 'A zoo? Really?'

'Like you said, what does he do with all of that space?'

The siblings stopped in the shade for a second underneath an overhanging roof, trying to catch their breath. The capital was much busier than usual and buzzing with excitement. The emperor was finally going to choose an empress. And it could be anyone!

'It's weird isn't it? To think that just a peasant girl could end up an empress.'

Jensen nodded his agreement. 'It is weird. Some girl is going to be helping run a kingdom in a little bit. Big change from sewing and drawing water wouldn't ya say?'

Mac hit him on his already sore shoulder. 'That is not all girls do! Without girls you wouldn't even be here!'

'Ow, you hit hard for a girl.'

'Jensen!'

They picked up their packs and started to make their way towards the palace once again, following the general direction of the crowd. The whole freaking kingdom was here it seemed, making an already hot day stifling. Jensen felt sweat start to bead on his forehead and drip into his eyes, making them sting.

He turned to look at his sister who was constantly adjusting her dress and fluffing up her hair.

'Uh, Mac?'

'Do I look okay?' She asked abruptly.

'Uh, sure?' He answered unsure of what to say. His sister looked just the same as always to him. Wasn't that good enough?

'Ugh, I knew it! I look terrible!' She went to a bucket of water and started to preen herself in the reflection.

'Mac? Why do want to look good? I know it's already a very slim chance that you'd get picked out of thousands of girls, but you don't want to get picked remember?'

Mac sighed. 'I know that. But it'd be nice to look presentable for my emperor. You know I've got a hunk of a man waiting for me back home, so no worries on that front.'

'Yeah yeah, I know Tom's a great guy.'

'Dang straight. It's okay to want to look presentable y'know?'

'What does it really matter anyway? No one knows what he looks like, or what he acts like. The council makes all of the decisions anyway.' Jensen pointed out

'Thought you said some peasant girl would be making big decisions regarding the kingdom soon?'

'Ah, you know me. I was just running my mouth. What do I know about politics? I'm just a simple sheep herder.' He smiled softly.

'I think you're a great sheep herder.' Mackenzie offered.

'Thanks.' He said dryly.

They arrived at the outside of the palace and headed towards the entrance. Mac handed her summons to the palace guard. Jensen moved to follow her but was stopped when the guard put his spear in front of him.

'Girls only.'

Jensen glared at the man. 'It's just my little sister, man. I wanna make sure she's okay.'

'Girls only.' The guard repeated emotionlessly.

'I don't car-'

'Jensen, I'll be fine. There's like a thousand other girls here. I'll meet you here at sunset, alright? Now go.' She shooed him with her hand.

He sighed. 'Fine. I guess I'll go see if I can find some toys or something for the twerps.'

Mac smiled. 'I'm sure they'll love you forever if you did.'

'Okay, I'm gone. Be careful.' Jensen waved goodbye to his sister as she disappeared into the palace.

He lingered for a bit, watching all the different people that gathered in the city because of the summons. There really were a lot of people here, bustling around, and all trying to get to where they needed to go. It became too much soon enough, and he longed for his village. It took a week to travel here on foot, and he was tired. At least on the way back they could just hop on a boat and take the river back to their place, in a little under a day. He wanted to have no noise but the cicadas chirping in the heat, not this constant yelling and ratchety clanging coming from all of the street vendors.

He wandered for a bit looking at all the interesting things that were up for sale looking for something to buy for his niece and nephew. He smiled fondly thinking of Logan and Lia. The two children were his deceased brother's, Josh, children. Their mother had died in childbirth, and two years later Josh had followed shortly after, having fallen down a ravine during a particularly bad storm.

The kids came to stay with him and his sister, who had a natural maternal instinct. He loved those kids dearly and worked hard to support them and his sister. Pretty soon though they would be gone and he wanted to get them a going away present.

Mackenzie was betrothed to Jensen's friend Tom Welling, and they had decided that they would take the kids in, wanting to give Jensen a chance to find a spouse of his own. He knew they would be living basically next door, but it still wasn't the same. He wouldn't be able to get up in the middle of the night and just walk down the hallway to check on them, and make sure they were safe. He was going to miss them a lot.

So this was how he found himself out of the nicer parts of the city, his exploring unknowingly taken him to the shadier slums inhabited by all sorts of perverse characters. He knew it too. There were a lot less people milling about and he was starting to get nervous. He was by no means a little guy, his height stretched up past six foot, and he knew how to handle himself in a fight, but that wouldn't mean a thing if someone pulled a knife on him.

He glanced around surreptiously, trying to put his finger on why he felt so off. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, as though he could feel someone staring at him. He stopped where he was, underneath some random statue, and looked around.

Definitely not in Kansas anymore. The area was all twisting pathways, not a tree in sight. A few people walked by, not one of them looking like the kindest person in the world. He decided to retrace his steps and get back to normal civilization when he felt someone's hand come down on his shoulder.

He looked back and then had to crane his neck up to look properly at the guy. He was freaking huge! It was a guy, with floppy brown hair and hazel eyes, staring at him intensely that held his shoulder. A fellow commoner that looked just as out of place as he did.

'You're . . . you're perfect.' The guy whispered sounding puzzled.

'And you're in my personal space. No touchy dude…no touch.' Weird guy alarm bells were going off in his head.

'Oh, right, sorry, 'The guy seemed to collect himself and had shaken off that strange behavior he had possessed previously. 'I forgot, you'll probably want payment first. Here.'

The guy pressed an ample amount of coins into his hands and before he knew it he was being kissed.

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Jared really couldn't believe he was going to do this. He couldn't believe he was listening to Chad, and going out to find the man that had been bought for him. Since when did he start listening to Chad anyways? He was a terrible influence that came up with even worse ideas! What the heck was wrong with him?

His friend had come bursting into his room about two hours ago proclaiming that he was the best friend in the world.

'Dude! You are sooo going to love me.' He exclaimed brightly.

'Yeah, okay? Whatever it is, it can wait. I have to go choose a wife now,soo…'

'Jay! The Chad has found you a man!'

Eh? His ears must be plugged up he could have sworn that Chad just said he actually went through his crazy plan and bought him a hooker. Silly him.

'So you have an hour to do whatever you want. And since this is your special day I'll pay for it.' He tossed Jared a pouch full of gold coins. 'Just go to the west wall and he should be waiting there for you underneath the cupid statue.'

'W-what?' Jared looked at Chad stunned.

'Congratulations!' He clapped him on the back of his shoulder. 'You are no longer going to be a man virgin!' He got a contemplative look in his eyes as he suddenly paused. 'You're not gonna be the one taking it up the ass are you? Dude, I will murder you if you bottom! No way I'm gonna let the ruler of this country be the bitch!'

'What! Chad I am not going to be a bottom!' He stopped. Wait a second. 'I'm not even going to go out there and sleep with the guy! I am going to stay in my room until Fredric comes and gets me so I can go choose my Empress!'

'Aww, come on. You know you want tooooo…' Chad told him in a sing-songy voice.

'No, I really don't.'

Chad pouted. 'You're no fun.'

Jared sighed. 'I'm going to get engaged today Chad. I'm no longer allowed to have fun.'

Chad nodded. 'Sucks for you.' Then got up and left his room.

Jared watched his friend go with some irritation. Great, now he was going to be in a bad mood all day. Getting up he began to pace his room to work off some of his nervous energy. He was not going to go sleep with some hooker just to see what it would be like to sleep with a guy. He just wasn't.

Going over to his mirror he picked up the little green jewel Fredric had chosen not to put with his outfit. Although. . . he had to admit he was curious as to what kind of guy Chad had picked out for him. Jared knew Chad would assume he would've wanted to top so the guy would have to be smaller than him, just because. And that really wouldn't be that hard to do, not many guys out there that could tower over him. But beyond size he hadn't a clue as to what he would've looked like.

Did he have a type? He wasn't sure; he had always just appreciated a man's looks in general, dark hair, light hair, blue eyes, brown, race not even a factor. What kind of man did Chad pick out for him?

He looked down at his clothes and abruptly started to change. Now to make things clear he wasn't going to meet the guy to sleep with him. Nope. As a matter of fact the guy wasn't even going to see him. He was just going to get good look at the guy from some little hidden alcove and then be on his merry way. This all just to satisfy his natural curiosity about what kind of person Chad thought was his type.

He put on some of his plainer clothes and headed out the door. Jared stepped back in a second later and hesitantly grabbed the pouch of coins that Chad left behind. Not to pay the man with! It was . . . just for emergencies.

It had taken him a lot longer than he had anticipated finding the cupid statue of the west wall, and he was sweaty, hot and tired by the time he reached it an hour after sneaking out of the palace. Why'd they have to making all the roads so complicated anyway, huh? He glanced dubiously at the sun and grimaced. He should be at the palace right now choosing a wife, but no, stupid Chad had to go and buy him a hooker and get him all curious about what kind of person it would be. Man, Fredric was probably freaking out right about now.

Okay, he took a deep breath. He was here now, might as well take a quick peek and then hurry back to the palace to beg Fredric for forgiveness. Stealthily he moved along the wall, his sneaky theme song playing in his head, and shuffled to where the statue was. All of a sudden two guys came walking past him, so he swiftly plastered himself to the wall hoping the shadows concealed him. They didn't, if the weird looks he received were any indication.

Cautiously he peeked his head from around the corner and saw the statue and Oh. . . my. . . God.. .

Jared's mouth fell open and his heart started to speed up because Oh…My…God…

The most beautiful man in the entire kingdom was standing underneath the statue and waiting for him. Jared gulped noiselessly and unconsciously took a step forward. The man thankfully never noticed him but still he glanced around and narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Jared wasn't even aware of the waves of distrust coming off of him, all he could think was that his emerald green eyes had to be the most amazing things he had ever seen in his life.

He couldn't even control his body as the need to just simply touch came over him and he let his hand drop onto the man's shoulder. The guy turned around quickly in surprise, and Jared couldn't breathe because he was even more gorgeous up close.

God bless Chad. This man was exactly his type. 'You're. . . you're perfect.' He said softly.

'And you're in my personal space.' What? Jared realized he still had his hand on the guys shoulder's and hastily removed it. 'No touchy dude. . . no touch.'

Why not? Jared realized right then that he wasn't just going to look anymore, or just simply touch. This guy was everything he basically dreamed of and he wanted him. . . .now. But still he looked a little apprehensive. Oh. Suddenly he got it and wanted to smack himself in the forehead. Of course he would want the assurance of the money first.

'Oh, right, sorry.' Jared reached into his pocket and pulled out the pouch of coins and placed it in the guy's hands. 'I forgot, you'll probably want payment first. Here.'

As soon as the coins left his fingers he quickly brought his hands up and cupped the man's face and kissed him thoroughly. In his mind he knew this wasn't the place to start things, but damn he had never wanted to kiss someone so badly in his life. Absent mindly he noted that he should probably stop so they could go somewhere more private but the decision was taken out of his hands when his lips suddenly become cold and his face exploded with a blossom of pain.

'What the hell!'

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Jensen didn't get surprised that often in his life. In his tiny village things were so stable and predictable that there was rarely an occurrence different enough to shock him. This….right here, it took the cake.

He had not been expecting some random guy to come up and kiss him. Truthfully he had been leaning more towards along the lines of expecting to get robbed when shaggy hair put his arm on his shoulder. Clearly though, that was a mistake. And now he was being kissed?

He pulled back abruptly and let his fist fly, hearing a crunch when it connected with the man's cheek in a very satisfying way.

'What the hell!' The man screamed at him, his eyes wide, and cradling his face with his hand delicately.

'I could be asking you the same thing!' He retorted angrily. 'What the hell was that, huh, you sick freak!'

'What do you think that was? You never been kissed before!' Shaggy hair shouted back at him, his voice echoing off of the walls surrounding them.

'Not by a guy! And definetly not from some person I've never met before! Seriously, are you mental or something?' What the heck was this guy yelling at him for? He was the one who got randomly kissed in the middle of the street….by a guy! He should be the one that was angry, not him!

'But,' Shaggy hair got a confused look on his face, 'Aren't you….?' He pointed at him and vaguely gestured with his arms.

'Yeah, I totally understand what that means.' He said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes.

Shaggy hair sighed. 'Chad didn't send you, did he?'

'Considering I have absolutely no idea who Chad is, then I would say that is a pretty fair assessment.'

'God,' Shaggy hair groaned, 'Of course you're not the guy that was supposed to be waiting for me. That would happen.. . .gah!'

'Uh, okay?' Jensen decided he would probably be making his escape at this moment and let crazy man continue on his little rant alone in peace, but still he wanted to know…

'So I'm guessing you were expecting someone else?'

The man snorted. 'I guess you could say that.'

'Well, what was his name?'

The man laughed a little bit at that. 'I don't know.'

'Well, my name's Jensen.' He could have hit himself. Why did he give the perverted crazy man his name? Did he have no common sense? Although, he supposed the reason was that despite him possibly being a lunatic Shaggy hair looked pretty harmless at the moment, kinda like a big puppy. 'What's yours?'

'Jared.'

'Named after the Emperor huh?'

Jared seemed to flinch at that and then nodded. 'Well, it's been….completely weird meeting you Jared. Have a nice life.'

'Wait!'

Jensen felt Jared's fingers clasp around his wrist and stall him from leaving. He looked down at the joined hands and glared. That was annoying. He brought his gaze back up to Jared's eyes and narrowed his eyes in anger.

'What?' He bit out.

'I'll pay you!' Jared blurted out, color rising in his cheeks.

Jensen was confused. Pay him for what? 'Come again? Gonna have to be little bit more specific there Jared.'

'Sex.' He answered plainly. 'I want to pay you for sex.'

Jensen felt his mouth drop open in disbelief. What the-? Why the heck would this guy want to have sex with him! You don't just say that to people! Who did that guy think he was! Who did he think Jensen was?

It suddenly clicked into place for him at that. Oh.

'You-!' He angrily ripped his hand from Jared's hold. 'You thought I was a prostitute?'

'Yeah, I did.' Did this guy have no shame!

'Well, I'm not!'

Jared shook his head. 'Doesn't matter. I still want you.'

Jensen could not believe this guy. Did he seriously just get propsitoned for sex in the middle of an alley by a random stranger? Who does that? There were sooo many things wrong with this scenario.

'No.' He replied.

'No?' Jared was no longer holding his hand but he could still where his fingers had been. 'What do you mean no?'

'It's the opposite of yes. A synonym for 'its never gonna happen'. Nien. In sign language it's usually indicated by shaking your head. Negative. It's what I'm saying to you. Take your pick.'

'No!'

'Exactly.'

He tried to walk away again but Jared ran ahead of him and blocked his path. That was starting to get old.

'Now wait a second and hear me out. I can pay you money. Good money.' He held out the pack of coins

'Like I said, I'm not interested, and neither am I a whore.'

Jared suddenly punched the wall above his head. 'Dammit just take the freaking money and say yes!'

Jensen stared up at him obstinately. 'NO.'

'I could make it worth your while. I am that wealthy. This…?'He held up the pouch of money and threw it away. 'It's nothing compared to what I'd give you. You'd never have to work again, just for one night.'

Jensen heard the words and barely comprehended them. Was he joking? Enough wealth to ensure that he would never have to work again? Unbidden an image of his remaining family popped into his head. They would never have to want for anything with the amount the he was being offered.

He looked up Jared through his lashes, and decided he wasn't that bad looking. But..

'Come on. You're just peasant right? What else would you be good for besides sheep herding? You are never going to get an offer as good this again I can promise you that.'

And that sealed the deal. The brief moment of insanity where he had actually considered this crazy propistion for a millisecond had passed. This guy ahd to be the most disgusting human being on the face of this earth.

'I would never sleep with you in a million years!' He shouted into the man's face and relished the shocked look that accompanied it. 'As a matter of fact,' He took a step forward. 'I find you to be the most unbearable, disgusting human being on the face of this earth!' He poked his chest a few times for good measure. 'The only way you'd ever get me to sleep with you is if you had my dead body, and I can only pray that wouldn't have a fetish for that.'

Jensen finished his rant and felt his breath coming in and out of his lungs rapidly. His cheeks were flushed in anger, and he just stood there in the silence.

'You..' Jared finally spoke after a minute or two. 'You're saying no to me?'

'Yeah, I am.' He said and walked away.

In the distance he heard Jared shouting at his back. 'You'll regret this. I swear it! I always get what I want!'

Not this time, Jensen thought as he left Jared behind in the distance.


	3. Chapter 3

How….How dare he! Jared thought as he furiously made his way back to the palace. He was so angry he could barely focus enough to put one foot in front of another. Just…How dare he! He huffed angrily as he realized how late he was. Great, and now Fredric Lane was going to tear him a new one.

Did the stupid peasant not realize what he had been offered! How much money he had been willing to pay? And still he had refused him, looked at him like he was the lowest scum on the earth. Jared was extraordinarily insulted at that. He was not that bad of a person and the peasant could have done a lot worse.

The peasant…he had told him his name hadn't he? He racked his brains trying to remember but he had been so distracted by his pretty mouth at the time to not pay attention. Knew all the things he wanted to do to him, remembered every curve of his lips and every shade of green in his eyes, and still couldn't remember his damn name!

It didn't matter though. Jared had been rejected, by a mere commoner, and he wouldn't stand for it! That man had made a fool of him! He lightly touched his rapidly swelling cheekbone tenderly. And he had even struck him! He had been insulted, assaulted, and rejected. That man was going to pay.

He hadn't been allowed to have him, had been denied something that he truly wanted. He wasn't going to stand for that at all.

He stalked up towards the palace and let himself into his room using the secret entrance. He glanced outside and noted dully that sun was beginning to set. Stupid town, with all of its stupid twisting, turning pathways that caused him to get lost repeatedly.

In a rage he put on the outfit Fredric had picked out for him and then decided, screw it! He didn't even really like the color blue and he wasn't a little boy! He was allowed to freaking choose his own outfit for a day! And he felt like wearing black, despite what Fredric said about it being like he was going to a funeral. As a matter of fact Fredric could go screw himself as well.

And now that he thought about it, he really needed to go kick Chad's ass thoroughly. It was all his stupid fault in the first place! If he hadn't bought him a hooker in the first place, (which he wasn't so sure of now anyway), then he wouldn't be in this stupid predicament.

The nerve of that guy! Uh! The stupid green eyed man! His stupid care free best friend! His stupid overbearing advisor who never let him make a damn decision for himself! Screw all of them!

Jared left his room clothed in black robes, knowing they made him look scary and ominous, and with the green jewel on that Fredric wouldn't let him wear. He stormed his way down the corridor and headed towards the balcony where he could voices in the courtyard. His footsteps echoed off of the walls of the hallway signaling his presence to the council.

Flinging the curtains aside he stepped into view of all of the people.

'Jared! Where have you been?' Fredric demanded. 'And what are you wearing? Misha! Go get the blue outfit I picked out from his room!'

The blue eyed, and dark haired man nodded. 'Yes sir.' He said and started to talk to something on his shoulder that wasn't there. Jared had always been uneasy around the weird man that Fredric had chosen as his assistant. But right now he couldn't care less.

'No. I am not changing. I like what I'm wearing just fine.' He bit out.

The murmuring of the people in the room suddenly grew quiet. The Emperor was angry, never did that bode well.

'Well, too bad. You need to look your best when you meet your new bride.' Fredric said without an ounce of breaking.

'I don't care! It's my body! I can dress it very well however I want to!'

While everybody else flinched visibly at his outburst Fredric remained unmoving. 'Now listen to me. You knew you were going to have to choose a wife today. I gave you more than an ample amount of time to be ready.'

'A few hours aren't enough time to prepare me to choose a future Empress Fredric!'

Fredric nodded in agreement. 'True. That's why a bride has already been chosen for you.'

It was deathly quiet in the small room. The multiple people in it all held their breath, convinced the very air being pushed out of their lungs was too loud. They glanced back and forth between the two men, Emperor and Advisor, wondering what was going to happen next.

'What?' Jared barely managed to grit out from behind his tightly clenched teeth.

'You heard me Jared. The Empire needs an Empress. And you didn't show up for the choosing of one. The council has been pressuring you for years to choose a bride but every attempt to make you get a wife have all been shot down. So now when we finally have given you a fair chance to choose someone to spend your life with you don't show up. You basically spat in this country's face.'

'You don't know! I love this country! My father loved this country and if for no other reason than that I will love it too! This is my kingdom to run Fredric! NOT YOURS!'

Fredric looked at him steadily as he processed those words. 'None the less a suitable girl has been chosen and already informed of her good fortune. She is from a noble family, well versed in the art of politics. She's beautiful, humble, willing to do anything for her country. She is the best possible choice for your Empress and wife.' He concluded.

Jared breathed out slowly through his nose. 'But she wasn't my choice. I'm sorry but I'm not going to allow that. You want an Empress fine. But I get to choose her. Also…'He took in a deep breath and let it out. This had been going on for far too long. He was the Emperor; he was supposed to be making the decisions around here, not his advisor. And in the end he was just too pissed with him to really care right now. '….Fredric, you're fired.'

An audible gasp could be heard from everyone as they heard the words pass the Emperor's lips. Surely he couldn't be serious?

'Fired? What do you mean fired?'

'I mean what I said. You're fired. You are no longer welcome in this palace, alright,' this had been going on for too long, and he had just let trust blind him. Fredric was taking over too much, letting his influence make the decisions for the kingdom. And he was thinking that's got to stop.

'But your majesty,' Fredric implored with the full use of his title. 'I have been nothing if not loyal to the empire for…many, many years.'

'I'm aware of that Fredric. You served me as royal advisor, my father and his father as well. You had been doing a good job. . . .but not anymore. I need you to pack your things and leave….now.'

Jared wasn't positive but for a moment he could have sworn that Fredric's yellow eyes flashed with hatred before being cast demurely down to the floor. He shook his head once and glared at each of the council members, when Misha came back bearing the blue robes from Jared's room he glared at him as well. But not Jared, never at Jared.

'Very well, Majesty. I will take my leave.' He said this quietly as he walked away and Jared watched him go. Once he was out of sight Jared turned his gaze towards the rest of the people in the room.

'Anyone else have any opinions they'd like to share?' They all mutely shook their heads.

'Good. Now show me where the freaking girls are so I can choose my freaking bride and get this whole freaking thing over with!'

With wary gazes and cautious steps Misha lead Jared to the courtyard where thousands of girls were all preparing to leave, disappointed that the Empress had already been chosen.

'Wait!' Jared bellowed out. All of the girls looked up at him some with awe in their expressions and some with fear. There was every kind of girl out there, tall, short, blonde, brunette, peasant, nobility, and one thing they all had in common were that they were extraordinarily beautiful.

Jared went into the throngs of girls, ignoring them when they flinched away from his touch, which because he was still so angry, was anything but gentle. Their hopeful gazes at being chosen as potential brides quickly diminished when they actually got a good look at the Emperor up close.

Jared knew he looked intimidating with his large stature, black clothes and harsh expression, but he didn't care. He might actually choose a girl if she met his gaze and didn't look away. Submissive his ass, he wanted a little spirit in his future partner, not a lifeless doll.

He looked over all of them but not one seemed to strike his interest. He considered giving up and not choosing one at all, after all this was all Fredric's doing and Fredric wasn't here, when he caught a flash of emerald green eyes. Suddenly the peasants named flowed into his head like he had never forgotten it.

Jensen.

Suddenly furious he stomped in the direction of the eyes and instead saw a small petite girl with luminous green eyes and dark blond hair. He grabbed her arm roughly and dragged her toward him to get a better look. Studying her closely he could see all the little things that reminded him of the stupid peasant earlier in the day.

'What's your name girl?' He asked without a hint of a question.

'M-mackenzie.' She stuttered out.

He let a cruel smile fill his face. 'Congratulations Mackenzie. You're the new Empress.'

She gasped and tried to tug out of his grasp but that only made him grip her harder. 'What? N-no! You don't understand! I'm already-'

'Let go of her!'

A voice rang out from behind him. A rather distinctive male voice. Everyone turned to look at the man parting the crowd trying to reach the Emperor and the woman at the center of it. Dark blond hair and sharp green eyes locked onto his hand where he gripped the girl tightly. A snarl twisted the pretty lips of his mouth into a cruel mockery of a smile.

'I said let her go!' He shouted once again, preparing to lunge at him but his guards did their job and clasped a hand around each of his arms.

He looked at the man who obviously hadn't seen his face yet, or recognized him, and let a bitter look fill his expression.

'I'm sorry peasant!' He spat out the word. 'But I think you are forgetting who exactly is in charge here.'

'Listen you-!' Jensen finally looked up at Jared and gasped. '….you.' He finished quietly.

'Tell me Peasant, why you would deny this woman a right to be an empress.' He walked towards him and circled him and the two guards slowly. The guards barely took notice of him while Jensen seemed to track his every movement.

'What if she doesn't want to be an Empress?' He said, looking right at Jared who had let the girl's wrist go a little while ago.

'Not want to be an Empress?' He asked mockingly. 'Why wouldn't a peasant girl want to be an Empress? To have anything she could ever want? Power? Clothes? Jewelry? A snap of the fingers and I could provide it for her.' He looked back and forth between Jensen and Mackenzie, noticing how much they favored each other, obviously family.

'She is already spoken for.' Jensen grit out through his teeth.

'By whom? You?' He asked although it was obvious the two were related.

'No! She's my sister-'

'Don't you want what's best for your sister?' He asked condescendingly.

'You…are not what's best for her!'

Everyone in the immediate vicinity gasped at the bold words. Whispering soon began, words like unheard of, peasant, disrespect, deserve it, punishment? They rang throughout the courtyard. The people were all watching with rapt attention, loving this spectacle that had fallen right into their laps.

'I…am not best for her? Tell me peasant, exactly what you think is better than an Emperor for a husband for your sister? What could there possibly be that is more important than the ruler of this country?'

'You-! She's already engaged to be married to a man she loves! You. . . you jackass!'

All of the murmurings stopped after the final word passed Jensen's lips. It was deathly quiet, so much so that you could hear the ragged breaths being drawn in by Jared as his fury grew.

Without a word he signaled to his guards to bring both of the peasants with them as he went into the palace. He was tired of having an audience. Swiftly they marched down the corridor and entered the throne room.

He flopped down into his throne and situated himself until he was comfortable.

'Now that they are no longer any extras ears to hear our conversations let me tell you one thing.' He snapped his fingers and a servant brought him a glass of brandy that he downed in one go. 'I am the Emperor here. I make the decisions. And I am going to have her as my wife.'

'Wait a second you just can't-!'

'I can do whatever the hell I want to.'

'You bastard!'

Throughout the whole time Mackenzie had not said a word. A whispered 'don't say anything' as they were ushered into the palace from Jensen, ensured her silence. And even though it was herself that was being discussed she could have sworn that there was something else going on here. Call it women's intuition but this fight was seemingly senseless, and so because she knew Jensen wouldn't fight so needlessly, she could only conclude that there was another argument hidden beneath the first one.

She was still surprised with the way Jensen fearlessly stood up to the King, as if he were an equal, and not one of his subjects. They verbally abused one another, barb after barb, and she was so mesmerized by the sight that she barely caught the last words being said by Emperor Jared.

'My decision is final, she will be sent back to her home for a week to be prepared and to say her good byes. And at the end of those seven days, my guards will come to collect her, and there will be no fighting the issue. Otherwise your little town thingy will be..' He stepped forward and grabbed Jensen's collar, dragging him closer. '..bye-bye.'

'Stop! You can't-'

Jared waved his hands and the guards started to drag the two siblings away. He smirked cruelly and wiggled his fingers at them, his eyes lingering particularly on Jensen. 'Bye-bye.'

Jared watched them leave with something akin to satisfaction. Revenge was always so, so sweet. See? He wanted to say to that peasant's face. I told you that would pay for this.

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'He can't get rid of me that easily!' Fredric raged as he paced his room, Misha dutifully watching him with an almost disinterested gaze.

'Who does that ungrateful little worm think he is!' He knocked various vials and bottles off of his work table, making the liquids and powders soak into the papers that littered the desk. He sighed and carefully started to clean it up. He worked with a lot of dangerous chemicals, being the magician that he was and didn't want to accidentally curse himself. Of course he was too much of a professional for that.

'Does he..' He picked up a throwing knife and conjured up an image of the Emperor with a snap of his fingers. Throwing the sharp object he disintegrated the holographic image with a quick slice. He picked up another one, and was about to take aim when he noticed Misha was a little too close to the image, and in danger of getting stabbed. Not that it was that big of a deal, he just didn't want to get blood on his shoes.

'A little to the left.' Misha dutifully moved and Fredric destroyed the floating picture.

'…Have any idea who he is dealing with?'

He breathed in through his nose, trying to calm himself down. It would do no good to lose control and destroy everything within a five foot radius just because he was pissed off. That stupid, whiney, pathetic royal brat! He should have done away with him ages ago!

'Who does he think he is?' That boy never could make decision without his helpful advice and now he was just cutting him loose? 'Why I practically raised him.'

'Yeah, and despite the fact that it was you who murdered his parents, you think he would've turned out better.' Misha said as he dodged another knife that got just a little bit too close for comfort.

'Yeah, go figure.'

'Still, better you're taking out your anger on those weird magic picture thingies you make up than the actual Emperor. I don't think the kingdom would take to kindly to that.' He said in that voice of his that was completely expressionless.

'Doesn't matter. I should have gotten rid of him a long time ago. But he hadn't chosen his partner yet, and without an heir I wouldn't have been able to-'

Misha was talking softly to something on his shoulder and then the other one back and forth, as if he were having a conversation with two other people. He was so caught up in his little world that he wasn't even aware when Fredric cut himself off. Finally he glanced over at the former advisor to see him staring into space, an evil look in his eyes.

'You know what Misha? I think it far past the time since I have been standing in the shadows. Too long I have been just a whisper into the ear of those in power. It is time for a change.'

'Uh, what kind of change?' He asked cautiously. Being the powerful magician's assistant for all of these years taught him that it was usually stupid to ask him questions when he got into that gleeful mood of his, but he just wasn't able to help himself.

'I mean that Jared has got to go.'

Misha tilted his head to the side like a confused puppy. 'Where does he need to go?'

Fredric sighed and squeezed the point between his eyes in exasperation. 'I mean I want to kill him Misha.'

'Oh, right. . . .why?'

Fredric smiled. 'Did you know I've been the royal advisor for the past 150 years? I don't look it, do I? And all this time, while I've played servant to those spineless, spoiled kings and queens, I've been doing a little something extra on the side.'

He pulled something from beneath his shirt, a tiny glowing vial attached to a leather strap. 'Did you know that the secret to eternal life is souls, Misha?'

Misha was talking to his shoulder again, and Fredric thought that he caught 'no, no, not crazy. It's just that there's a wall there.' But he chose to pointedly ignore it when he finally answered his question. 'Uh, no, I didn't.'

'Yes, well, there it is. Souls are the secret to never dying. But, not just any souls. Then there would be so many people running around, never dying. No, they have to be of special blood….royal blood. The royal blood of this kingdom is the only kind that will do it. Although I'm not entirely sure why…'

He lovingly caressed the glass, feeling its warmth seep into his fingers and it seemed like just a few more of his wrinkles managed to disappear. 'I've been collecting the previous Emperor's and Empress's souls for the past 150 years, trying to get enough souls to remain immortal. Right now I am just barely managing to not die, but I think that just one more soul should do the trick.'

He turned a cruel smile towards Misha. 'Quickly, to my secret chambers!'

They walked quickly down the corridor and approached a hidden door behind one of the many statues decorating the hallway.

'Pull the lever Misha!' Fredric stated gleefully.

Misha did as he was told and seconds too late Fredric realized what he had done. There were two levers, and Misha didn't pull the right one.

'Wrong lever.'

'Huh?' He barely had to time to brace himself before another door opened in the hallway and the sounds of snarling could be heard. Misha and Fredric both turned around as a rather large lion started to step into the corridor.

Misha looked fearful but Fredric only rolled his eyes, snapped his fingers, and the lion turned into a helpless kitten.

'Why do we even have that lever?'

Fredric pulled the correct lever this time and a secret passageway opened up. He and Misha quickly made their way through the maze of mirrors that you had to go through in order o get into it, and arrived into Fredric's private secret chambers.

'Hmmm, how shall I do it?' Fredric mused. He glanced over his impressive collection of curses, potions, and poisons. He held up some foxglove and considered putting it into Jared's drink, but figured it would take too long for his heart to stop.

'It can't be anything having to do with his health.'

'Why not?' Misha asked.

'Because the Emperor is young and healthy. Besides, that's what I plan to do to the council so that I won't have anyone standing in my way. I can't have the Emperor dying in suspicious circumstances like that; otherwise they could be expecting it.'

He walked towards his window and glanced out of it, seeking the Emperor's room immediately. The young man had his light on and his silhouette could be seen perfectly. He was pacing his room and drinking some liquor if his drunken stumbling was anything to indicate it by.

'That's it.' He murmured softly, struck by inspiration. 'I know how to get rid of him.'

'Am I gonna have to do anything?' Misha asked sounded a little bit hopeful. Fredric hadn't been needing his help as often lately and it was made him a bit lonely since he wasn't allowed to talk to anybody else.

'Yes, I have the perfect job for you.'

'What is it?'

'You get to hide the body.'

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Jared was in his room later that night, more like early morning, drunk of his ass, and pissed. And guilty. He was mad, but he was also feeling extremely remorseful. Maybe it was just the alcohol speaking but he felt like a world class jerk.

Not about choosing a bride, not that. That stupid peasant had what was coming to him, should've taken Jared's offers more seriously. But he did feel bad about using his sister like that. She wasn't a part of it. Hell, he had barely spoken two words to the girl, and couldn't even conjure up what she looked like beyond the fact that she resembled Jensen. She didn't deserve to be used like some pawn.

But as Emperor he couldn't go back on his decisions. That would make him appear weak, and lacking in backbone. He had to keep up appearances.

Still, maybe he could allow her some freedoms. Let her keep that boy she was engaged to as a lover on the side. Only after she had his child of course. That's all the Empress was there for anyway, as an heir producer.

He took another big gulp from his bottle that he held loosely in his hand and let out an obscene belch. He walked to wear his massive window was and stared out over the city. He had had this room since he was a child and could still remember how he and his father would sit here in the dark and stare at the lights of the capital, as one by one, they would all go out.

'There it goes!' A seven year old Jared whispered in excitement.

'Yep. That's the last of them.' His father chuckled and fondly ruffled his hair. 'Time for someone to go to bed now I think.'

'Nuh uh.' He shook his vehemently even as a yawn escaped his lips. 'I'm not tired.'

'Could've fooled me.' His father picked him up easily, and carried him over to his large bed. Gently he set him down and pulled the covers up to his chin, doing a very thorough job of tucking his son in for the night.

'Daddy, tell me a story.' He said sleepily.

His father sat on the edge of the bed and sighed, knowing he wasn't going to be able to leave until his son got what he wanted. 'What do you want to hear Jay?'

'Tell me about how you and mommy met again?'

His dad smiled softly down at him then. 'Alright. First off your mother was the most beautiful person in the entire kingdom.'

Jared giggled softly. 'I know that already Daddy.'

His dad grinned. 'Of course you do, son. Anyone with eyes can see that. Anyways, I was about a few years older than you when I first saw her. She was the daughter of a maid here in the palace, and was out in the courtyard. It was love at first sight for me. I knew I wanted her to be mine forever.'

'What about her?' Jared interrupted.

'What?'

'Did the same thing happen to her?'

'Ah.' His dad shook his head slowly. 'Not even close Jay. I went up to her and tried to talk to her, but I wanted to impress her you see, so I showed off and bragged and basically made an ass of myself.'

'You said a bad word!' He scolded his father. 

'I won't tell if you won't.'

Jared considered this and nodded. 'Alright. Tell me the rest.'

'Okay. So after that she wouldn't talk to me, at all. No matter how many times I tried to get her to. A few years went by and boy, she grew into an even more beautiful woman with each passing day. And not just on the outside either, she had to have been the most kind person in the entire world. Completely selfless.'

His father paused and looked at the door that led to his own room where his wife was sleeping. 'One day a very expensive jewel went missing. And a palace guard accused her of stealing it.'

Jared gasped. 'Mommy would never do something like that!'

'I know son, I know. See, that guard took the jewel and blamed her because he was mad that she would always reject him and his offers of marriage. What he didn't know was that I was overheard the whole plan when he was talking to his buddy. I stepped up and got him thrown out and saved your mother form a bad reputation.'

'And would you believe it! She still wouldn't talk to me! I was so mad that when I saw her in the courtyard that night I marched right up to her and demanded what her problem was.'

'Do you know what she said Jay?'

Jared shook his head.

'She said her problem was that she was just a lowly servant who had the misfortune of falling in love with an Emperor.'

'What's wrong with that?' Jared asked curiously.

His dad waved a dismissive hand. 'Some nonsense about social statuses or something stupid like that. Any way I told her that it didn't matter and if she would be my wife. She said yes of course and the rest is history.'

'And now here I am!' Jared exclaimed happily.

His father got a strange pensive look on his face at those words but quickly made it disappear with a smile.

'Yeah buddy here you are.'

His parent's were dead the next day.

A knock at the door brought him out of his musings. He turned to look as Fredric poked his head in. A fresh surge of guilt swept over him at the man that had basically raised him after his parent's death.

'Ah, your majesty? Could I talk to you for a minute?'

'Certainly Fredric, I ah, need to talk to you as well.'

'Alright, Misha, stay outside the door, I won't be long.' He said and closed the door.

The two men stared at each other as the silence started to grow awkward.

'Fredric I owe you an apology.'

'What?'

Jared nodded. 'It's true. I behaved in a very unbecoming way. I was fed up with some things and I was angry, and then when you said you had already chosen a bride for me I felt like I was losing all control.'

'I'm sorry, majesty.' Fredric murmured.

'It's alright. I wasn't exactly thrilled about being told who I was going to marry already. But that doesn't mean I should have fired you.'

'Jared? Are you saying that..?'

Jared smiled at his mentor, and knew his decision was a good one. He needed someone like him at his back. 'Yes, I want you to remain being my royal advisor.'

'Well, I accept!' He snapped his fingers and Misha stuck his head in the door. 'Misha, we're going to celebrate! Bring us some wine!'

Misha nodded and scurried off.

'So, uh, he seems…nice.' Jared threw out since he wasn't sure exactly what to talk about. He had fired and re-hired the guy all in one day. Makes things a little tense.

'Ah, he-he is.'

'He's what, in his late twenties?'

'I'm not sure. . '

'Got it!' Misha said bringing the drink into the room and breaking the silence.

'Ah, great job.'

'Yes, very good job.'

Misha quickly poured them both drinks and gave them each one. He didn't take any and was soon standing in the corner mumbling to his right shoulder.

Fredric raised his glass. 'A toast to the Emperor! Long live Jared!' Oh, how Fredric loved situational irony.

Jared drained his quickly and smacked his lips together. 'Ah, tasty.'

It was fruity with a pleasant buzzy feeling, which was kinda weird because wine wasn't supposed to be so . . . fuzzy. He rolled his tongue in his mouth and found it felt like it was full of cotton, okay, not normal.

Maybe he should sit down, but no Fredric said to go look at the moon, and Fredric usually did know best right? Ah, the moon was really beautiful.

He leaned his head against the glass of his window and looked out into the night.

'Ah, do you see the sky tonight? Talk about black.'

Wow, wasn't he just so eloquent. He giggled at the use of the long word. He liked it. Eloquent. El…o…quent. He snorted. It kinda sounded like elephant. HE laughed out loud at that. Now there was a funny animal.

He stumbled back a few steps and then walked a few more forward. Ah, good, Fredric was trying to steady him with his hands at his back. That was nice, except, he was kinda going the wrong way. He wanted to go to bed he tried to say to Fredric not the window, but he just couldn't.

Suddenly he heard a loud crashing sound and it got inexplicably colder. Why was it so windy in his room. He must have had a little too much alcohol because he was hallucinating, and the ground rushing towards him wasn't a pleasant thing to think about.

Oh, he realized, he was falling.

It was kinda nice, he noticed as he closed his eyes and a strange warmth filled his body. Then everything went black.

TBC…


	4. Chapter 4

Part 3

'Get rid of the body.' That was all that Fredric said to Misha as he walked past him and out of the door. He glanced back into the room and saw the massive window was broken, glass shards strewn across the floor.

He walked towards the now open area, a cool breeze ruffling his dark hair, and looked down. He whistled, that was a long, long way down.

Sighing he began to make his way down the stairs, thankful that it was the middle of the night and that no one was up. He could only imagine getting stopped and questioned about the body he would be carrying.

'Oh, this old thing? No, no, of course it's not a body….it's my….laundry.'

Yeah that would go well.

But in the end he didn't really have a choice so he did as Fredric told him to and climb down what seemed an endless staircase. Really, did the Emperor need all this space? Misha cocked his head to the side at that thought. Yeah, probably not anymore.

Misha had never really had anything against Jared, not really. Sure the kid had been spoiled rotten but at least he hadn't been like the ruler of the country he had come from. Murdering, lying, greedy, he was lucky that he had had a ruler that had been so benevolent if not a bit…shall we say….selfish. Jared had even talked to him upon occasion, despite his strange tendencies, so that was a point in his book for him.

He supposed that little twinge in his heart had been sadness when he saw the young Emperor fall out the window. But he wasn't able to express this sorrow even if he wanted to, even if Fredric hadn't been watching. Fredric had always used his assistants as guinea pigs in his experiments and he had been no different. After countless potions and curses had been tested on him some…side effects, were bound to show up.

One of them foremost being his seemingly emotionless face. He felt things alright, pain, sadness, happiness, anger, he just wasn't able to show it on his face. Fredric said it made him invaluable as an assistant. And as for the other side effect?

Well, they just decided to show up whenever. Like now for instance.

'Hey….hey Misha?'

He glanced at his shoulder where the dark fairy sat, clutching to his clothing with tiny fingers. He was about five inches tall and had dark blue skin. His mischievous and inquisitive eyes were a glowing golden color and looked at him appraisingly at the moment.

'What is it, Kalen?' He asked the fairy.

'You really gonna kill a guy?' He jumped up and down eagerly, enjoying it when Misha managed to show some form of annoyance on his face.

'I'm not going to kill a man. I'm going to hide the body of someone who is already dead.'

'Uh huh,' came another voice from his left shoulder. 'The only way you're gonna hide a dead body is if you make sure it's dead yourself.

'What are you taking about Maurelle?' He asked the light fairy. She resembled a human much more than her darker counterpart. Where Kalen had pointed ears hers were round, where his teeth were more like a cat's fangs hers were basically baby teeth. And even though she came from the Light Court and He came from the Dark Court he didn't trust either of them as far as they could throw him.

'Look.' She giggled and flew ahead of him a little bit her soft wings fluttering delicately.

'What an annoying bitch.' Kalen muttered, and most of the time Misha was apt to agree. The little Light fairy was just too bubbly and happy, and just plainly freaking annoying. But today she seemed to have a point.

In the distance the sun was starting to rise, the sky lightening from dark gray to a more pinkish hue. He spotted something in the distance and his breathing rapidly sped up when he realized it was probably Jared's body.

Not that Misha was afraid of bodies or anything, because as Fredric's assistant he was exposed quite a lot to corpses, but this time it was different. This time it was someone he knew fairly well, and it was going to be odd to see the usually vibrant young man being so still.

As he drew nearer to the body he was able to make out his features a little bit more distinctly. The chestnut brown hair that was never kept in a more royal style, the slanted eyes that were now permanently closed.

He quickly approached the body, trying to figure out exactly what to do with it. Fredric hadn't specified anything to that extent, so for now he was on his own. The body was just laying there, no broken bones or weird angels to his neck. He cocked his head in curiosity, he hadn't expected that.

As a matter of fact, now that he really looked he didn't see any blood splatters either. That was…odd. One would expect at least some form of bodily fluid or another to have come about after a man's body hits the ground after falling at least seven stories. But there was nothing.

'Weird.' He muttered.

'What's weird?' Kalen asked as he peered over his shoulder to look at the body. "Hey, he looks good. Can I eat him Misha?'

He sighed. 'We've been through this before Kalen, no, you're not allowed to eat humans. Alright?' Really, this argument was starting to get old.

The dark fairy pouted. 'Yeah, fine.'

'So what are you gonna do now Misha?' Maurelle asked.

Misha scrubbed a hand down his face and then reached for Jared's body. 'I don't know, just,' His hand smoothed down over his face and towards his chest. '..get rid of it, I guess. Shouldn't be too hard to find a pl-….what the-?'

Underneath his hand Jared's chest was falling and rising up with each breath he took. Jared…was breathing? There was no way! No man could have possibly survived that fall, it was impossible! From his shoulder he heard annoying giggling.

'Surprise!' Maurelle shouted right into his ear.

'Maurelle…what did you do?' He asked in exasperation.

'Well, I knew he was nice to you, not a lot of people are, y'know. And I knew you didn't really want him dead…so I saved him for you!'

'Crazy Bitch!'

'I am not Kalen, you, you stupid berry head!'

'Ohhh, that hurt. No really, I'm scarred.'

'Shut it! You're just mad because you didn't think of it first!'

'Why would I ever want to save a human! I eat them for fun remember!'

'You Dark fairies and your weird appetites.'

'Guys! Be quiet for a second okay?' Misha knelt down and put his ear to Jared's chest and was rewarded with a steady thump-thump of his heart. Well, he certainly wasn't dead, he thought. Now what to do with him. Fredric had said get rid of the body. He hadn't really specified to do if said body was actually alive.

As the two fairies bickered on his shoulders the sun started to rise. The light peeked over the edges of the palace wall and hit Jared's face, illuminating it with brightness. It cast half of his face in shadow, making him seem younger than he really was.

Misha sat down for a second to think, his job had gotten a lot more complicated.

He glanced back down at Jared and had to do a double take. He was glowing, quite literally. An inner light seemed to come from within him, enveloping him, and making Misha have to shield his eyes. Through the haze of the light he could make out the young Emperor's shape and that was about it. The shapeless blob started to change though. It became darker and smaller, and the light began to dim.

The glow still lingered briefly on what Misha assumed was Jared's body. He wasn't completely positive you see, because what he was looking at now was most certainly and obviously a wolf.

Misha poked it and wolf Jared didn't make a sound. Interesting. He took back what he said earlier, now his job had gotten a lot more complicated.

He lightly touched Jared's fur, running his fingers through the course hair, almost petting him really, as he tried to figure out what to do. A glint of something metal caught his eye and he almost laughed aloud. The crown that Jared had been previously wearing was caught around his neck in an imitation of a collar. The thin silver ring didn't appear to be harming the young Emperor so Misha left it as is.

Also it might help him out a bit. He decided that he needed to go get some rope, he wasn't sure how much of Jared remained in the animal and he didn't want to take any chances. In the back ground Kalen and Maurelle were still arguing.

'And look at those stupid imitation butterfly wings.'

'We've been through this, it's what all Light fairies have and you know it!'

'Doesn't change the fact that you're glittery.'

'Fairy dust!'

'Reason number two that I'm better than you, look what I can do.' He stood on his hands and took one away, making him do a handstand singlehandedly.

'I don't get what that has to do with-'Misha started.

'No, no,' Maurelle interrupted. 'He's got a point.'

'Okay, guys, I think you've helped out just enough, so just disappear so I can be alone, or whatever.'

'Alright, laters!' Kalen said and vanished.

'Bye, Misha! Have fun with your new pet!' Maurelle said and disappeared as well.

Where the heck did they disappear to anyways, Misha thought. All well he had more pressing matters at hand than to wonder where his little mystical sidekicks came from. Like, the dead body that was no longer actually a dead body and had somehow turned into a wolf.

Who knew really what caused the Emperor to turn into an animal? Fredric had made him fetch that weird concoction that was supposed to make him all drugged up and easy to push out of a window. Then again it had been dark and he had been in a hurry…maybe he might have possible…grabbed the wrong one?

He hoped Fredric wouldn't find out. Angry Fredric meant pain. Lots and lots of pain.

In the end he decided that he honestly couldn't kill him, couldn't kill anybody really. Sure he'd get rid of corpses, didn't mean he had the ability to take a life. And the little fact that Jared was now a massive wolf was going to mean he wouldn't be able to keep him in the palace. So now his oh so clever plan was that he was going to simply run away from the palace and Fredric with Jared in tow, until he could figure out a way to reverse the spell.

Frankly he was tired of being a guinea pig for Fredric's experiments, but never had a reason to leave before. He had been a part of a lot of terrible things, not actually doing anything directly responsible for causing harm, but he hadn't stopped it either. But now looking down at the Emperor's misshapen prone form he realized he could at least save one person.

Simple, right?

He petted his majesty on the head one more time, honestly getting concerned that he hadn't woken up yet, and left to go his rooms quickly to get all of his meager belongings and money together so that they could escape the city.

He would need a cart, and some rope. Never a good idea to lead a wild animal around a bustling metropolis even if said animal is actual the ruler of the metropolis. Swiftly he hurried to his room, knowing it wasn't a god idea to leave Jared alone for too long but not being able to help it.

He had not been five minutes away but when he returned to the place where he had last seen Jared, the wolf's body was simply gone.

'This is not good.' He whispered to himself.

There was nothing really to be done now it seemed. He glanced around but it was an open area and there was no place to hide. The wolf would be long gone by now.

Dejectedly he made his way back to Fredric's quarters, having nowhere else to go. 'Hope this doesn't come back to haunt me.' He muttered.

~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~

Jensen and Mackenzie made their way into the village somberly. Usually after the week long walk to the Empire's capital it was a relief to have to only spend a day on a boat on the way back. On past occasions they would have been smiling and laughing, looking over the wares they had purchased in the city and having a good time. This time though it was quiet and tense, each lost in their own thoughts.

Jensen had tried to get Mac to talk numerous times but she had shut him down immediately not wanting to think about what was going to happen in a mere weeks time. She was going to be taken away from him, Jensen realized. Taken away from her brother, Tom, the man she was promised to and heir niece and nephew as well.

It wasn't fair.

They trudged up the hill to where their house sat nestled at the top. From there they were they could hear Tom's voice ringing out as he laughed and jokingly measured the two children, claiming that one had grown a little bit more after only five minutes.

'Oh I don't know. I think he might actually be a little bit shorter, dontcha think Mac?' Jensen said as he entered the warm household.

'Jensen!' Logan and Lia shouted as he and his sister walked through the door. Immediately his legs were attacked by two parasitic children.

'What didya get us!' They screamed in unison, their bright brown eyes sparkling.

'What? No, 'Welcome home Uncle Jensen'? No hugs? I'm hurt.' He put his hand over his heart and grimaced. 'Truly you have wounded me.'

'Aunt Mac? Jensen's being a drama queen again.' Logan informed her.

'I take offense at that!'

Lia and Mackenzie both nodded, while Tom said, 'He's right y'know?'

'He's nine!'

'Doesn't make it any less true.' The blue eyed, black haired man nodded sagely.

'Against me! You're all against me!'

Jensen walked outside as though he were turning his back on all of them but returned a few seconds later with his hands behind his back.

'So, I've got a couple of packages…y'know, if a few certain nine year olds want them…'He trailed off suggestively.

'Gimme!' Lia demanded and my gosh she was strong for a little girl. She actually tore the parcel from his fingers with a surprising strength. What the heck had they been feeding her why he was away?

Logan approached a bit more cautiously and actually asked if he could please have his present. 'Of course you can Logan, it's a lot better approach than someone else's way.'

'You know you love me Uncle Jensen.' She said wisely.

'Yeah, yeah.'

'Candy!' The two children exclaimed and tackled their uncle with hugs and kisses. They ripped open the paper and started to stuff their faces full of the sugary goodness right away. Jensen was glad that he was able to find some in the city, candy a rare luxury in the tiny village. Meanwhile Mackenzie approached Tom slyly asking if she could have a welcome back hug as well.

'I can do better than that.' He said, his full lips pulling into a bright smile and sweeping her into a hug and then leaning her down for a kiss.

'Ewwwwww.'

'Be quiet Logan and Lia.' Tom admonished but they only wrinkled their noses in disgust.

'Isn't it time for some certain kids to be in bed? That was the promise. You got to wait up for Mac and Jen and then you're supposed to go straight to bed.'

'Awww, but..but….' They both turned to Jensen with a slightly evil look in their eyes which soon turned to pleading. 'Pwease can we stay up Uncle Jen?' They asked with their lips quivering.

'Gah! NO fair! You know I can't stand up to puppy dog eyes!'

'It's okay Jen.' Mackenzie cut in. 'We're not gonna do much besides just sitting here telling each other how much we love each other.' She and Tom started to make kissy faces at each other.

'Blah.'

'Ew.'

Together they said good night and swiftly ran up the stairs. Jensen smiled fondly at them being happy, grateful that he was able to contribute to that joy even just a little bit. He saw the light upstairs go off and turned around only to find Mackenzie and Tom making out with each other. He shuddered.

'Okay, nasty. I'm might go to bed too now that I think about it.'

'Oh shut up Jen. You're an adult. Deal with it.' Tom said while laying another one on Mac.

'Dude! I so don't want to see you making out with my little sister!'

Tom sighed. 'Fair enough.'

Mackenzie sat down in a chair with a plop and Tom immediately took one of her feet into his hands and started to massage them. 'Oh my gosh. Someone is going to get sooo much sex tonight.'

'Mackenzie!' Jensen screamed putting his hands over his ears. 'I don't need to hear that!'

'Alright alright. We'll stop torturing you.'

'Thank you.'

'After we go and have hot steamy sex.'

'Tom! Mac!' Seriously, his family was going to give him a heart attack.

They both laughed at him but ultimately stopped with the sex talk.

'So what was the Emperor like?' Tom asked suddenly into the comfortable silence. 'I mean, did you even get an actual chance to see him?'

Jensen and Mackenzie looked at each other solemnly, a silent exchange passing between them. Mackenzie turned towards Tom, who seemed oblivious to the communication between the two siblings, and began to speak.

'Uh, Tom, you see, the thing is-'

'Mac could I use your help in the kitchen for a moment.' Jensen interrupted abruptly. Mackenzie looked relieved but Tom looked a bit annoyed at his best friend interrupting his fiancée.

'Jen? Can't it wait?'

'No, no. It's fine. Be right there big brother.'

He nodded and disappeared into the kitchen, grateful that they could delay this painful discussion for just a few moments more. Walking over to the counter he looked out the window overlooking the entire village. He loved this place. He really did. Just now the sun was starting to set, and would be completely gone in about fifteen minutes. The llamas were grazing off in the east fields, watched faithfully over by the day herders, Chris and Steve, while he had been away.

He heard Mac walk in and turned around to see her set her hip against the door frame.

'I sent Tom to go get some water from the well, we have about five minutes.'

'Alright.' He nodded. 'Don't tell him.'

'What? What do you mean don't tell him?' Her eyes got round at the implications of lying to her lover. 'He's my fiancée Jen, he kinda has a right to know that his future wife is going to marry the Emperor.'

'I know, just, not right now Mac. Not tonight.' He pleaded with her.

'And pray tell, what an appropriate time would be Jen? I'm gonna be gone in a week.' Her voice broke on that last word and her eyes started to fill with tears. 'D-don't you think he's gonna notice one morning when he wakes up and I'm not there?'

'Oh, Mac.' He moved to his sister and gave her a hug, wishing with all his strength that it was just like when they were younger and he was able to make every bad thing that ever happened just disappear with a kind word or well placed gesture.

'Why is this even happening to me? I know most girls would be over-joyed but-….why couldn't he have found one that actually wanted to marry him? Why me?'

'I'm so sorry Mac. I'm so sorry.' He whispered softly into her hair.

'It's not your fault she mustered back, soft sobs shaking her body gently.

It was quiet for a while, the two sibling s just holding each other for comfort. Jensen knew Tom would be back any second now and he needed to get this off his chest.

'Actually it is my fault Mackenzie.'

She looked up at him with reddened eyes filled with confusion. 'What do you mean it's your fault?'

HE took a deep breath. 'What I mean is that he's doing this to get back at me.'

'Why? What did you ever do to the man? When have you ever even met the guy?'

'Earlier when I dropped you off at the gates, I was just walking through the city. I ran into this man and we had an….altercation.'

'You got into a fight with the freaking Emperor?' She screeched at him.

He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. 'Kinda. But he started it and he was dressed just like us and I didn't know it was him. He said he's get back at me. I didn't think I'd ever need to take him seriously.'

He sat down on the kitchen floor and he felt Mackenzie slide down the wall next to him. She almost seemed to be in shock. 'What kind of fight did you two have?'

'Sex.' He answered plainly. 'I want to pay you for sex.'

'You-!' He angrily ripped his hand from Jared's hold. 'You thought I was a prostitute?'

Well, I'm not!'

Jared shook his head. 'Doesn't matter. I still want you.'

'NO.'

'You..' Jared finally spoke after a minute or two. 'You're saying no to me?'

'You'll regret this. I swear it! I always get what I want!'

'Y'know,' He finally answered. 'Stupid guy stuff.'

'I highly doubt that stupid guy stuff is enough to warrant marrying your sister as revenge.'

He shrugged. 'Who knows how the Emperor's mind works. Anyways..' He got up and cracked his neck. 'I'm not gonna let it happen.'

'What?'

'You heard me. I'm not going to let him use you like that Mackenzie. You deserve to live the life you want, you deserve to marry Tom and be happy. I'm going to go to the Capital and demand to speak to the Emperor. And I'm going to change his mind.'

'Jensen..'

'It's alright Mac.' He said offering her a small smile. 'I want to do this. It's my fault you're in this predicament anyways.'

'It's not your fault. It's the stupid Emperor's fault.'

'Mac…'

Just then Tom came back inside interrupting their argument, and leant on the counter next to Mackenzie.

'So, what did you want to tell me earlier?' He asked wrapping his arms around her.

'Uh, just …wanted to tell you how much I love you?' Was the best Mackenzie could come up with.

'Liar.'

'I do too love you!'

He smiled at her. 'I know you do, but that's not what you wanted to tell me.'

Jensen broke in. 'Ah, come on Tom, just leave it alone, won't you?'

'It's none of your business Jen-'

'Jensen's gay!'

Both men stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Mackenzie. It was so silent that you could hear a bug flying past and then it's screams of death when it got eaten by a spider. Weird.

'Excuse me?' Jensen and Tom both said at the same time.

'Yeah, uh, that's what I wanted to tell you. Big secret!' She waved her hands around in a type of flailing gesture. 'Surprise.'

'Ma. Ckenz. Ie. Can I talk to you for a moment?'

He dragged her outside by the arm while Tom just stood there with his mouth hanging open. He paced in the front yard while Mac looked on in amusement.

'What. The hell….was that!' He screamed at her.

'You're the one that said not to tell him about the marriage thing!'

'So that automatically means you tell my best friend that I'm gay!'

'You could pull it off.'

'Mac!'

She sighed and looked down at the ground contrite. 'I'm sorry Jen I just kinda…panicked? I was trying to distract him…'

'Alright, alright. Whatever. Whole village is gonna think I'm gay by tomorrow morning…I can handle that. Gah! Thank God I'm leaving tonight!'

He started to walk off and grabbed his bag thankful that it was still full from his previous journey.

'Where are you going?' He heard Mackenzie shout at his back.

'To check on the llamas really quick and then I'm gone.' He hefted the shoulder bag a bit a higher and walked down towards the fields.

Steve and Chris were long gone by the time he walked through the fields where the llamas were grazing. He smiled as the animals crowded around him, nudging his pockets for the sugar cubes he usually kept hidden there.

He heard something charging him from behind and then a large furry creature attached to his back. He fell to the ground while the thing continued to attack his face by licking it.

'Ah, down! Down Ash!' He sat up gingerly rubbing his head where it knocked against the ground. 'Hey girl.' He said to the chocolate lab that ran him down and petting her head.

Ash was a dog that believed she was a llama and basically just hung out with the herd. She didn't'[t bother anyone and was okay in everyone's books.

'What you been up to huh?' He got up and walked the perimeter of the field checking for any hurt animals and filling up the grain bins. Satisfied that he was done he decided that he should probably start on that long walk back to the capital.

Turning around he did just that when Ash's low growl caught his ear. The dog was standing towards the forest, the hair on the back of her neck standing rigidly up and baring her teeth. Jensen immediately grabbed the herding staff he was walking with and held it up in a defensive position.

'Hello?' He called out tentatively. When he got no answer he was pretty positive that it was an animal nearby and a dangerous one by the looks of Ash's reaction to it. He was thankful that was even just a tiny bit of light left in the day but even that was rapidly diminishing. Glancing into the darkness he saw to eyes reflecting the last rays of the day's sun. He gripped his staff harder waiting for either the animal to attack or to just slink back into the forest.

He was hoping, really, really hoping that it would lose interest in the llamas and decide to go look for food elsewhere, but sighed in disappointment when it only inched closer.

It stepped into the light and Jensen's jaw dropped. He had been expecting a panther, or a cougar, possibly even a bear, what he did not expect to slink into sight was a magnificent gray wolf. It was taller than any other wolf Jensen had ever seen, probably coming up to his mid waist on all fours. It also had the strangest eyes he had ever seen on a canine. Where they usually had brown or even golden colors this one's were a strange bluish green hazel color. Definitely odd.

'Get back.' He said raising his staff threateningly.

The wolf only cocked its head at him as if he were confused.

What was up with this animal, he wondered. Why wasn't it attacking? Not that he was complaining about the lack of bared teeth or anything, still it was behaving a bit oddly for a wild animal. Maybe it was a little bit addled in the head.

Throwing caution to the wind he put the staff behind his back and held out his hand in a non threatening gesture. 'C'mere boy.' He cooed tot eh wolf. 'I won't hurt you.' He said softly.

All of a sudden the wolf took a few steps back and the hair on its neck and shoulders rose up and a low growl came from his throat. Uh oh, nice job Jensen, he thought, lets be nicve to a dangerous animal and expect everything to go well.

'I remember you!' A voice came from the direction of the wolf. Jensen looked over the wolf's shoulder looking for person who he assumed was the owner of the animal. But he waited a minute and no one appeared. He glanced back at the wolf who was now stalking him slowly.

'You're that stupid, stubborn, whiny peasant!' And this time Jensen was positive that it was the wolf that was talking to him. Well, he decided, instead of the villagers thinking he was gay, maybe they would be distracted by some other news…

'Are you listening to me you commoner!' The wolf hissed at him.

The fact that Jensen was going insane.


	5. Chapter 5

Jared wasn't exactly sure how he came to be in the middle of this God forsaken forest, and he really didn't much care. The only thing that he could even hazily remember were the sounds of voices in the weirdest conversation he had ever heard.

 

'What the hell, Maurelle?! Why'd you poof us back here?' A tiny, angry voice had asked.

 

'Don't start with me Kalen, I'm doing this for Misha!' A daintier, more feminine voice responded.

 

'Haven't you done enough already? He wasn't supposed to survive in the first place.' 

 

'I just wanted to do something nice for Misha!!' 

 

The scratchy sounding one's inflection took on an extremely mocking tone. 'Yeah, and look how great this is turning out.'

 

'Fuck you, Kalen!! I made a mistake, now I'm fixing it!'

 

Jared could imagine too well how the voices must interact on a daily basis. Perhaps siblings?

 

'How? Not only is he NOT dead, for some reason he's-..'

 

'I know. I know alright! I'm just going to....take him far away.'

 

Jared felt himself being shifted and wondered what was causing him to have this very strange dream. No more drinking before bed, for him.

 

'Take him away? That's your solution? You have a problem so you just make it disappear?'

 

He could almost see the nod in the other ones voice. 'Pretty much.'

 

'Nice.' Approval rang out in it's words. 'Guess you Light Ones really aren't all butterflies and sugar, huh?'

 

'Oh please, you may be called the Dark Court, but that's only because we're less obvious about our deceit.'

 

'True. So where do you want to dump him?'

 

'Somewhere far away.'

 

And then he had blacked out again. The next time he woke up he had been surrounded by grass and trees, a far cry from the stone and mortor of the city.

 

He took in a deep, looking around, but there had been nothing different in every direction. Just more plants and vegetation, nothing varied all around him. 

 

He tried to get up, but was unable to get his limbs working right. He felt shaky and disconnected to his own body, any slight movement taking focus and much concentration.

 

And yet, while he wasn't able to function properly, he still noticed that the rest of his senses were working in overtime.

 

The woods were encased in shadows as the sun started to set, but still his eyes had been able to pick out the most miniscule detail; such as how many chimpunks were nestled into the burrow about a half a mile from him.

 

He thought he was panicking when he heard blood rushing in his ears and a heartbeat rapidly speeding up, but felt both relieved and terrified when he realised that it was from the deer across the meadow.

 

When he finally managed to get his limbs to work he accidentally stepped on a twig and practically smelt the fear roll off of the doe when she finally noticed his presence.

 

He watched her run away with a sigh.

 

Okay, enough of that, he decided. Time to take stock of the situation.

 

How did he get here? No idea. Last he could remember he was drinking in his room and then he must have passed out. And then that strange dream, whoch he could barely remember now, about someone named Mary and Collin? 

Yeah....he was on a roll.

 

Okay, so absolutely no reason for him to be in the middle of a forest then, check.

 

Step number two: keep walking. He couldn't be that far from the palace, so if he just kept moving forward he was bound to find civilization sooner or later, and then be on his merry way.

 

Besides Fredric had to be organizing a search party by now-...

 

Oh yeah, he'd fired Fredric today...or yesterday? Whatever.

 

The point was someone had to be looking for him, he was the freakin' Emperor, he'd be kind of hard to miss. And that would make getting home twice as easy. All he had to do at the moment though, was find some food, water and shelter before it got dark, which was happening rather quickly, and he was good.

 

Jared walked for a while getting used to his unusual gait. For some reason he seemed to have developed a limp of some sort although he wasn't feeling any pain. It was an odd feeling of seeing both more and less than he usually would, especially with his improved senses and odd way of walking.

 

He looked around trying to take as many sights as he could, because as the emperor he rarely had the chance to explore his kingdom. He had lived most of his life sheltered behind the high palace walls, every whim or fancy he ever had been catered to immediately. So what he actually knew about this country that he ruled was severely and sorrowfully lacking.

 

The only time he had ever really been out of the palace without an escort had been when he was about five, not counting his last adventure which included an uppity peasant and new future wife. He and his father had roamed the streets at will after donning appropriate disguises and sneaking out at dawn. He remembered that his mother hadn't really been pleased with his dad, but none the less both recieved hugs and kisses as they departed that morning.

 

Up until that point in his life he had ever only known the palace as his whole world. After all he was to be the future ruler of the kingdom and needed to be protected as much as possible. And for the same reason that he was to be emperor his father thought it was time for him to venture out into the world, to see his people face to face, and learn about what lay beyond the walls. To rule his people properly he needed to know them properly.

 

They had been to all sorts of places that day, fed the birds in the marketplace, saw a puppet show along with the other children, and had the most magnificent time together. Jared had even seen two men get into a fight but his father had stepped in and stopped the fight with only his words before it got too serious.

 

Nearing the end of the day his father had put Jared on top of his shoulders and he was loving every minute of it. Even though his father always tried to make time for his family being emperor was busy work and he rarely got this complete, undivided attention from his father.

 

They were almost back home when his father had stopped abruptly and Jared had peeked shyly over his shoulder to see what the cause was about.

 

A little boy, no older than himslef, had been in a dipilated old doorway, dark eyes shining up at him. He noticed the boy was holding out his hand cautiously and whispering "please" in a broken voice.

 

His dad had taken him off of his shoulders and reached into his pocket, metal clinking together as he did so. But when his dad took a step forward the little boy would scurry back, eyes much too large for his thin face. His father frowned and tried again, that time clearly showing the money, but it hadn't helped.

 

'Jared.' His father softly called to him. He ran over immediately and was handed the coins. Questionly he had looked up at his father who smiled and nodded towards the other boy.

 

'Go on.'

 

So he had walked slowly over to the kid that was no older than himself, who looked starved, tired and for all appearances alone in the world, and gave him the money.

 

Their fingers touched and despite how frigid the other's skin had been he could still feel the warmth from the other's smile and murmered "thank you", when it was given.

 

He swore he would never forget that moment, that feeling of goodness and wholeness, and yet here he was, years later and remembering it for the first time.

 

Yeah....he needed to get out more.

 

He wasn't exactly sure how long he had been walking when he heard some sounds of civilization.

 

Light started to break through the leaves and branches of the dark forest when the silence that permeated the air was broken.

 

He thought he could hear a dog barking first and foremost, and then a man's voice yelling. He sniffed the air and scent of wool assaulted his senses. Definately a herd of sheep.

 

It was strange, because even though he heard and smelled the animals it still took him a while to get there. Surely his hearing wasn't that good? As he neared the edge of the woods he started to make out the white fluffy sheep dotting the pasture along with a large, brown dog running around as well.

 

And then he saw him....again. The second time hit him as hard as the first, maybe even harder. Those vibrant, green eyes weren'y narrowed in suspicion but instead crinkled in the corners as he laughed at the dog's antics. And instead of a sneer those beautiful lips were twisted into a smile, a gorgeous one at that.

 

....who was he again?

 

Jared knew he recalled having seen the beautiful man before, but because of recent events (temporary memory loss being one of them) their initial meeting eluded him.

 

He watched as the dog ran happily around the man, it's tail wagging furiously as it was praised. 'Good dog, Ash!' Geez, even his voice was beautiful. Smooth, with a slight drawl, not cacophonus in the least.

 

Cautiously he put one foot in front of the other and slowly started to step into the setting sun's light. Civilization and a very pleasant looking man to help him out? His prayers had been more than answered.

 

So all he had to do now was get some help and then he could be on his merry way back to the palace, finally able to forget this whole strange, fiasco. 

 

After all weirder things had happened to him before....wait a minute. No they hadn't.

 

All well, back to business.

 

As he brought one of his feet down a twig snapped underneath it, and the dog's ears perked right up at that.

 

It immediately bared it's teeth towards the trees sheltering Jared and let out a long growl. Hackles rose upon it's back, and Jared could have almost imagined the same thing was happening to him.

 

The man took notice of his dog's actions and glanced towards the forest, eyes narrowing in suspicion. Jared felt a twinge of disappointment as the man's smile vanished.

 

The dog kept up a steady routine of coming closer to him, an inch at a time and Jared had to resist the strangest urge to growl right back at it.

 

How odd.

 

'Hello?' The man called. Jared didn't answer, just wanting to get out of the dark woods and back home. So he did.

 

When the guy finally saw him he immediately picked up his shepard's staff and held it out in front of him defensively. What was that about?

 

'Get back.' The man all but snarled at him.

 

Okay? He tried to put up his hands in a non-threatening but once again his body was not cooperating with him. It just wouldn't listen so he sat down instead.

 

The guy wasn't putting his scary stick away though, so maybe sitting down wasn't really helping. He had just decided that the good looking man was a wee bit crazy when he started to walk towards him.

 

'C'mere boy.' He said softly. 'I won't hurt you.'

 

Definately crazy.

 

Right, so no sudden movements, didn't want to spook the crazy guy, and lucky for him he put his staff down. He walked slowly towards him and Jared couldn't help but notice those lovely green eyes again as the man held out his hand.

 

Their eyes locked and suddenly it all came rushing back.

 

'I remember you!' He gasped.

 

The statement seemed to make the man grow pale and take a step back. His eyes were wide with fear and confusion but Jared didn't care.

 

'You're that stupid, stubborn, whiny peasant!'


End file.
